1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electronic power device and to an electronic power assembly comprising such a device.
2. Brief Description of the Related Art
Such power devices are known to be made by bolting power modules on metallic cooling elements comprising a volume for the circulation of a heat-exchange fluid. These cooling elements may be subjected to a circulation of air in forced or natural convection, or to a circulation of water. Such power devices also include capacitors performing a double function of uncoupling and of filtering, which are mounted above the power modules.
However, this known arrangement presents certain drawbacks, insofar as the effect of mounting the capacitors above the power modules is to increase the overall thickness of the power device once made, such increase not being desired.
It may also be provided to place the capacitors, not above the power modules, but on the side thereof. However, such a conformation presents an excessively large surface, which is the origin of parasitic phenomena of inductances detrimental to correct electrical functioning of the power device assembly.
It is also known, by U.S. Pat. No. 5,142,439, to make a capacitor battery from a plurality of capacitors disposed in parallel between two connection plates, extending over opposite faces of these capacitors. One of these plates is covered with an insulating surface as well as with an additional conducting plate, so as to form a bus-bar, which is connected to the other connection plate via a connection conductor. This capacitor battery is connected to a power device, the conducting plates of the bus-bar being respectively connected to an emitter and to a collector of this power device.
However, this arrangement has certain drawbacks, insofar as the use of this bus-bar involves numerous connections, at the origin of high parasitic inductances and, in addition, does not enable a compact power device to be produced, due to the presence of the connections extending above the power modules.
In order to overcome the different drawbacks of the prior art set forth hereinabove, the invention proposes to provide an electronic power device of small overall dimensions, which is simple to manufacture and which limits the phenomena of parasitic inductances.